Tie down roper Austin Hines wasted no time in getting his 2025 season off to an impressive start.
Just days after the CPRA’s 2024 regular season wrapped up, rodeo athletes took their skills down the road to a pair of rodeos that will count in the 2025 Canadian standings—the Coronation Pro Rodeo and the Medicine Lodge Fall Roundup. Hines was one of two cowboys to win both events to kick-start their 2025 season. The other was bareback rider Colton Ouellette of Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan.
Hines was at the CFR in 2023 but fell short in his effort to qualify for CFR 50 in Edmonton, slated for October 2-5. The Marwayne, AB hand will get the early jump on the rest of the tie-down ropers by virtue of a 7.9 second run at Medicine Lodge for a $1294 payday followed up with an 8.0 run at Coronation to collect another $1533 in earnings.
Ouellette, who twice competed at the CFR in the Novice Bareback Riding (2018 and 2019), and has been a dominant force in the amateur and semi-pro ranks, was 76 points on Outlaw Buckers’ A52 Aim High, for a $582.80 Coronation win, augmented by ground money of $874, then repeated his winning ways with 69 points on Duffy Rodeo’s 223 Mulberry Hill for an identical $582.80 and again ground money amounting to $874.
Athletes will make their way to the historic Hanna Indoor Pro Rodeo and the one-of-a-kind Oldstoberfest in Olds, AB Oct 13-14. All four September rodeos count for the Maple Leaf Circuit Finals (set for Nov 27-30) at Agribition in Regina, SK while Coronation Rodeo was the last stop on this season’s Precision Rodeo Tour.
For complete results and standings, check out rodeocanada.com
PHOTO: Austin Hines, 2023 CFR photo by Chantelle Bowman